In the spirit of I am the Pretty Thing that Lives in the House (reviewed here at borg) and other movies that don’t seem to understand how authors write or the publishing industry works, comes two new 2026 movies: Verity and A Talent for Murder.  The appeal of both of these movies is more the cast than the strange stories the studios chose to tell.  Both are billed as crime thrillers, but not so much as mysteries per se.  Verity is based on a novel and A Talent for Murder on a play, a rip on The Talented Mr. Ripley author Patricia Highsmith–both movies featuring authors.  Verity stars Anne Hathaway as an author now invalid and A Talent for Murder stars Helen Mirren as real-life writer Highsmith.

Romancing the Stone used the author as heroine concept, too, also not getting the whole publishing process correct, but that movie was a success because it played it all for comedy.

Take a look at these first trailers for Verity and A Talent for Murder:

Both are heading to your local theaters in time for Halloween.  Co-starring Josh Hartnett and Dakota Johnson, Verity comes to theaters October 2, 2026.  Co-starring Solo: A Star Wars Story star Alden Ehrenreich, A Talent for Murder is in theaters October 23, 2026.

C.J. Bunce / Editor / borg